Ana loses to Pierce in third round

Ana’s Wimbledon run came to an end today when she lost 6-1, 6-4 to Frenchwoman Mary Pierce. Ana did not play badly, rather her vastly more experienced opponent was simply too good.

“It was a good fight but today she played really good,” said Ana. “She didn’t give me too many chances. I had a few but I didn’t use them. I had a few mishits on some important points and I think that’s what turned the match. My serve didn’t work really well today. I think that was one of the points.”

It was a frantic start. Both women served strongly and rallies were at a premium. Then in the fourth game two atypical forehand errors from Ana gave the 30-year-old French Open runner-up a break and, playing some superb stuff, she raced away with the opening set.

Fatally, Ana was broken in her first service game of the set and though she held serve for the remainder of the second set, she was unable to make an impression on Pierce’s serve. “She served really well,” said Ana, who was only allowed two break points all match.

“She really put me under pressure with the serve. I was most of the time holding back, which isn’t my type of game. She was hitting really long and putting me under pressure.

“Every time I tried to step into the court I made some mis-hits. But still, I’m happy with the way I played the last two matches [against Foretz and Douchevina] and there are a lot of things to learn from this one.”